• Welcome to The Audio Annex! If you have any trouble logging in or signing up, please contact 'admin - at - theaudioannex.com'. Enjoy!
  • HTTPS (secure web browser connection) has been enabled - just add "https://" to the start of the URL in your address bar, e.g. "https://theaudioannex.com/forum/"
  • Congratulations! If you're seeing this notice, it means you're connected to the new server. Go ahead and post as usual, enjoy!
  • I've just upgraded the forum software to Xenforo 2.0. Please let me know if you have any problems with it. I'm still working on installing styles... coming soon.

Sound card problem

DIYer

Well-Known Member
Famous
Here are 2 problems I have with sound system of my computer. Latter one is more pressing than the former.

1. I have been using a sound card by Sound Blaster for a year and have been having a problem with static noise. I bought it for its digital signal out feature and it was cheap ($25). When listening to music files in my computer via computer speakers, some times the screen goes into screen saver mode. Then when I move the mouse or press a key, it gets out of screen saver mode but when it dose, it adds continuous static noise in the sound and won't stop until I close the music media player.

2. I happened to have M-Audio Mobile Pre sound card (connected via USB) for my RTA system so I've been using it ever since the static problem which solved it. Now here comes another problem. I have a desk lamp which I use when reading books or papers. When I turn it on and off which is plugged into the same power strip as the computer, I hear a “pop” from the speakers. This "pop" sometimes disables all the sound programs in my computer including my RTA software (no sound comes out of anything). Only way to reactivate them is to reboot my computer. Is there something I can do to solve this problem?
 
DIYer said:
Here are 2 problems I have with sound system of my computer. Latter one is more pressing than the former.

1. I have been using a sound card by Sound Blaster for a year and have been having a problem with static noise. I bought it for its digital signal out feature and it was cheap ($25). When listening to music files in my computer via computer speakers, some times the screen goes into screen saver mode. Then when I move the mouse or press a key, it gets out of screen saver mode but when it dose, it adds continuous static noise in the sound and won't stop until I close the music media player.

2. I happened to have M-Audio Mobile Pre sound card (connected via USB) for my RTA system so I've been using it ever since the static problem which solved it. Now here comes another problem. I have a desk lamp which I use when reading books or papers. When I turn it on and off which is plugged into the same power strip as the computer, I hear a “pop” from the speakers. This "pop" sometimes disables all the sound programs in my computer including my RTA software (no sound comes out of anything). Only way to reactivate them is to reboot my computer. Is there something I can do to solve this problem?

Nix the Sound Blaster PCI card and opt for Realtek.

Connect the M-Audio Mobile pre to a dedicated or even a different 110v outlet.

Rope
 
The MobilePre is usb only... no plug. Weird that it pops like that. Maybe a grounding issue in the entire system?
 
I'm assuming that the computer speakers are powered. As the sound card is USB I'd guess that the pop has more to do with the speaker/power connection than the speaker/card connection.
 
My computer speakers are active monitors (Behringer Truth B2030A) and they are plugged into the same power strip as the computer. I'll try different plugs and see what happens.
 
I had a pair of those as computer speakers for a while. Loved em' but I just didn't have the real estate on my desk for such large monitors.
 
Just tried a different outlet for my desk lamp and still hear "pop" when turning on and off. Even if it does, it's not supposed to affect the sound system, no? What's even more confusing is, it happens intermittently. :angry-banghead:
 
Thinking out of the box, are you touching different things when it happens? I wonder if it's static?
 
That outlet may be on the same circuit. If so even though its not on the strip, it may as well be. Its possible that the lamp's bulb has a high current draw and that is creating a power sag causing the pop. The intermittant nature of the noise may be related to the combination of other things on the circuit. That's just a wild guess though.

How frustrating!
 
Ditto to Towen. Kinda like when you run the blender and turn on the toaster and the breaker pops, that's probably what's happening. All on the same circuit, but when you've got something else on at the sames time it's drawing down on the system and causing your speakers to pop.
 
Speaker "pop" itself doesn't bother me much but what happens to the sound system afterward does.
 
Back
Top